


safe places

by alternate_me



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel in the Bunker, Dancing Lessons, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-17 11:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2308022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alternate_me/pseuds/alternate_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel lost his grace. Yes. He's lost his grace again and now it's for real. So Dean's made it his responsibility to teach Cas some lessons, lessons on his own "people skills". Like music and, well... dancing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	safe places

**Author's Note:**

> I always feel like writing something at the beginning. Even when I actually have nothing to say. I have nothing to say.  
> Just fluff.

“Okay, lesson seven”

Dean walked towards Cas. They were in the bunker’s research room, and it was empty but for them. It was early in the morning, so Sam had gone out for his daily jogging. It had been the perfect timing.

Since Cas had lost his grace, Dean had made it his responsibility to teach him his own “people skills” – which included lessons since “shooting” to “how to bake a pie”. At first, Sam had told Dean he couldn’t make Cas cook anytime it pleased him. It was taking advantage, it was wrong. Of course, that was before they discovered Cas was an excellent cook. Since then, Cas had received from Sam lots of recipes with the word “salad” written on their titles.

Dean stopped right in front of Cas. It had been quite a change from the mighty angel of the lord who had entered that barn many years ago. Castiel was wearing sweatpants and the t-shirt he had slept with – one of Dean’s old ones, which he was given when he had moved in, so he didn’t need buying clothes for sleeping. Cas was still very sleepy, one could easily see he was not a morning person.

“Does it have to be so early?” he said, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

It was the only time Sam would be out all day. Not that they would do anything wrong or reprehensible. Dean just felt more comfortable that way - alone with Cas.

“Stop complaining”

Dean was more awoken. He stood there, still wearing his robe, hands hidden behind his back, a smirk on his lips.

“So, what’s lesson seven?” Cas yawned.

Dean’s grin widened.

“It’s something I hope you’ll enjoy, something really important for humans. Actually, I don’t think anyone could live without it”

He waited to see if he had any suggestions, but Cas just looked at him, half confused, half curious. Dean rolled his eyes, impatient. He couldn’t wait any longer.

“Music” he said in an enthusiastic voice.

Cas raised his eyebrows.

“Oh” he sounded a little disappointed. Was it _that_ important for humans? “We did have a choral in Heaven” 

He smiled a bit, at least it wasn’t something totally unknown to him. He wouldn’t be so lost on that lesson after all. But Dean ended fast with his confidence.

“This is different. It’s much better than a bunch of angels singing in supersonic voices”

Cas cocked his head. 

“No offence. It’s just I’ve already heard your true voice” Dean raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side. “I’m going to show you real music, _human_ music”

Cas gave up. He would be lost after all.

“And where are we going to listen to it?” he looked around, searching for something that looked like it played music. 

“Well, that’s lesson twenty”

Cas wondered whether there was any order for the lessons or whether Dean just went on saying random numbers. He seemed to enjoy that, the position of teacher. Just like as if he was an expert. And, well, compared to Cas, he was. Cas, on the other way, never thought it could be that hard to be human. He just wanted that lesson to end fast, especially if it was going to be as humiliating as the lesson on how to brush teeth, or as frustrating as the one on choosing proper names for fake badges. 

Then Dean finally took his hands from behind his back. One of them was holding a pink object; the other, something Cas couldn’t really describe. 

“iPod. And headphones”

He had already seen Dean sleeping or walking around with those things. He honestly thought it would be something more _interesting_. Dean got that from his expression immediately.

“You’ll like it, Cas. It’s more than it looks. The first time you listen to music with this, trust me, it’s pretty amazing” Dean said, raising his hands and adjusting the headphone over Cas’s ears. 

He held the iPod up so Cas could see it, smiling at the suspicious look he saw on his eyes. Then he pressed one of its buttons. At once, Cas’s eyes widened in a surprised expression that slowly turned into a slight smile. Dean watched every reaction.

“It’s good”

His dreamy expression made Dean smile wide.

“Told you”

Cas narrowed his eyes, frowning.

“ _What_?” he yelled and Dean covered his ears with his hands “ _I can’t hear you_ ”

“Okay, okay, wait a second” Dean shouted back, lowering the volume “Now you listen to me?”

“Yes” Cas had a bright smile on his face now - one that matched his eyes. Listening to music like that was _really_ different from everything he’d ever heard “Now it’s better” That was, without a doubt, the best lesson so far.

Dean nodded, slipping the iPod into Cas’s hand. And when he looked up again, his eyes lingered over Cas’s for a moment. 

It was a rare moment when Cas was not trying to show Dean he understood human habits, that he was adapting easily to that life. He tried not to show weakness, and Dean respected that, even knowing it couldn’t be so easy for the angel to suddenly lose his grace. That was why those lessons were so important for him. He was trying to slowly break the fortress Cas had built around himself.

He wanted to show him it was okay to feel lost, to be afraid. Dean had learned over the years that you should hide your weakness from the world, and he knew how it felt like. He didn’t want Cas to feel like that. Not there, not with him.

Now, Dean couldn’t be happier as he saw the former angel was rocking his head slightly, his blue eyes happy to the sound of music. Dean had his lips curled up, he couldn’t simply stop watching Cas’s shy swing. The part of Cas he’d wished so much to see was now prying out of its safe place.

In some point between chords, Cas finally noticed Dean staring at him and stopped moving, his face suddenly warming up. It was as if he had turned the world off for a while. And now that he was back, Dean had his eyes fixed upon him. There was no time for hiding behind his walls. Dean was already there, looking deeply at him, actually seeing him and all of his confusion. Cas felt he just couldn’t stand it. He looked down.

And Dean couldn’t stop himself. He suddenly stepped forward, invading completely Cas’s personal space. For Heaven’s sake, he wanted to make Cas look up. He wanted him to trust him, not only on teaching simple human skills. Cas was the one who had actually seen him. He had no illusion about the person Dean really was, and he liked him, despite the souls he’d tortured, despite the mess he usually was. Dean wanted to be that for Cas too. He wanted to be his safe place.

As Dean stood in front of him, staring intensely at him, Cas swallowed. The silence of the room - the knowledge they were all alone in the bunker - made his stomach shake in a sudden nervousness he didn’t know where it came from. Dean was already inside his walls, no point in trying to push him out. But then, what should he do? Dean wouldn’t stop looking at him. Cas could feel his heartbeat quickening under his gaze, his mouth getting dry, and his breathing getting heavy. 

Dean saw the sudden instability in his features, in his body language, and cheered internally. Cas was just Cas now. Nothing hidden, nothing between them, nothing. Not even physical space. They were so close, Dean could feel Cas’s body heat. So close, it didn’t seem much as he moved his hands and put them over Cas’s hips. 

Cas froze at the touch.

“Dean, what are you doing?” his voice was low, he couldn’t do anything more than barely move his lips.

“Lesson forty-two”

And as he said that, Cas felt one of Dean’s hands leaving his side and touching his shoulder, his fingers hot over the thin t-shirt. The hand slid down unbearably slow till it reached his wrist, giving Cas chills where it touched his bare skin. Dean had a pleasant expression on his face as he pulled Cas’s arm up, placing his hand behind his neck. Cas instinctively mirrored the gesture with his other hand. 

He could feel Dean’s hands holding him close, and there was nothing to part them, Dean’s body was warm, and strong, and _safe_. Cas wouldn’t mind staying there for the rest of the day. Just leaning on Dean, looking into his green eyes.

But it didn’t last much longer. The stillness was broken as Dean’s feet started moving from side to side in a slow rhythm. His hands - set firmly on Cas’s hips - pulled him together. Then Cas finally understood what that lesson was about. Yet something was not right. Something didn’t match. Cas suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Dean glanced at him smoothly, his hands were now moving almost lazily on the bottom of his back.

“Dean, I don’t think-“ Cas started, trying to concentrate on what he was going to say. He pulled back the hand that still held the iPod from Dean’s neck, looking at the screen of the advice “I don’t think… ‘Back in Black’ is danced like this”

He didn’t understand why Dean started laughing. And he had opened his mouth to speak again when Dean pulled him closer, his hands tightening over his body.

“Just shut up and dance, Cas” he said, starting to move his feet in the same slow rhythm as before.

And, in a few moments, they were dancing slowly to the sound of some imaginary song. Dean had bended his head forward, resting his chin on Cas’s shoulder, their heads touching slightly from time to time. Then suddenly Dean would rub his face against Cas’s, his lips kissing the former angel’s cheek; he would bury his face on Cas’s neck, smiling against his skin, making Cas retreat instinctively, tickling. 

Many songs went by while they danced. Cas lost count. They all kept him away from the world, to the point there was no other sensation but Dean’s body against his. Cas didn’t fully understand humanity, not yet. Sometimes he felt lost, as if he didn’t belong to Earth. But not now. Not when everything he could feel was Dean. Because if it was all Dean, then he already knew it more than anything, he already loved it more than anything.

Everything he needed to know was there. He was not lost, he was home. Home was everything he felt in the moment: Dean’s hands holding him tight, Dean’s casual kisses to his neck, Dean’s heartbeat over his chest. 

Dean. Dean. Dean.  
And nothing else.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading  
> Hope you guys have enjoyed it :)


End file.
